BluesFeast 2010

Bluesfeast, Rotorua’s annual celebration of great blues, gourmet foods, fine wines and boutique beers, is on track for Sunday 31 January 2010.
It will be held on the RAVE grounds in Hinemaru Street.

There will be an exciting line-up of blues acts, including UK blues guitarist Pete Harris.
Pete has 30 years experience both as a solo acoustic player and leader of electric blues bands, and a separate career as a folk musician.


The line-up will also feature the return to Rotorua of a perennial crowd favourite, Australian blues and boogie pianist Jan Preston.
Also performing will be the best of our Bay of Plenty blues artists, plus top acts from elsewhere in the country including The Jukes, The Gary Harvey Blues Band and The Self Righteous Brothers.

As in previous years, there will a fine selection of food, wine and beers on offer from some of the region’s best restaurants, wineries and breweries.

TICKETS $20 PRE-SALES, $25 AT THE GATE

Tickets on sale now at:
NZ Credit Union, cnr. Pukuatua and Ranolf Sts, Rotorua
Rotorua City Focus, cnr Hinemoa and Tutanekai Sts, Rotorua

or by mail order:

send a cheque made out to BluesFeast for $20 per ticket, plus 50c postage (or include stamped, self-addressed envelope) to BluesFeast Tickets, c/- R.A.VE., 1240 Hinemaru St, Rotorua

You Tube Of The Month

Johnny Guitar Watson - Gangster of Love

Recorded 'live' in Bremen, Germany circa 1977

The Flaming Mudcats

The Flaming Mudcats are a new Auckland-based rootsy blues band.
This four piece band swings, playing those great grooves along with burning harp and smoking guitar lines.

Influenced by the likes of Little Walter, Johnny Guitar Watson, Magic Sam and Kim Wilson, the boys have compiled an exciting set list.

The Flaming Mudcats

Out of a rehearsal in 2009, a gathering of four players with a common drive to play this brand of blues, resulted in the formation of The Flaming Mudcats.

So here we are….come and see us…hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

The Flaming Mudcats are available for festivals, pub gigs, corporate events and private parties.

Blues September

If you don’t know already, the month of September is known as Blue September in the hope of raising awareness about prostate cancer.


Every year about 600 men in New Zealand die of Prostate Cancer.

So... what can we do?

Well, in association with the Auckland Live Blues Club, The Jukes will be performing on Sunday 6th September (4pm start) at the Family & Naval Hotel (situated on the corner of K' Rd and Pitt Street) and donating the fee from the gig to the Foundation.
We will also be inviting a gold coin donation (or two) from the crowd on the day... and you will be pleased to know that, despite the recently publicity about what percentage of your donated money goes to charities these days, 100% of the money donated goes directly to the Prostate Cancer Foundation.



If that wasn't enough reason to come along, the band might be fortunate enough to be joined by a very special guest; Bill Cherry, who is currently on his holidays in New Zealand.
Bill knows his blues...
During his early years in Chicago Bill spent time with, Buddy Guy, A.C. Reed, Otis Rush, Junior Wells, Muddy Waters, Siegel-Schwall, Linn County, and many others.
He became particularly close to Luther "Georgia Boy" "Snake" Johnson, who was playing guitar with Muddy at the time.
He and Luther spent a great deal of time together when the band was in Chicago, with Luther trying to teach Bill how to play the blues, and Bill trying to teach Luther how to read music.
Bill's involvement with the Las Vegas Blues Society included being an officer of the organisation for 7 1/2 years (6 1/2 years as President) and also led to his being elected to the board of the Blues Foundation in Memphis, a position he held for four years.
After moving from Las Vegas, Bill and his wife are now residents of La Paz, Mexico, where he has assembled some of the top musicians in La Paz to resurrect his band, who perform two nights a week at the El Paraje Roadhouse.

Bill Cherry and his amigos

So that's a couple of reasons to join in but of course, but this is isn’t about promoting the band; it’s about raising awareness about prostate cancer, so you can always donate or check out what else is going in Blue September via the foundation's web site Blue September web site for more details.